White Chocolate topped Gingerbread Cookies

White Chocolate topped Gingerbread Cookies

found on www.culinaryconcoctionsbypeabody.com
3 cups flour
2 tsp. Ginger, Ground
1 tsp. Cinnamon, Ground
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. Nutmeg, Ground (I used fresh)
1/4 tap salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 cup white chocolate chips

Mix flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt in large bowl.
Beat butter and brown sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy.

Add molasses, egg and vanilla; beat well. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed. Press dough into a thick flat disk. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges of cookies just begin to brown. Immediately press about 5-6 white chocolate chips into center of each cookie. Remove to wire racks; cool completely. Store cookies in airtight container up to 5 days.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars

This recipe is from The-girl-who-ate-everything.com.

Combine:

1 pkg. plain yellow cake mix

1 stick melted butter

1 c. creamy peanut butter

2 eggs

Press this into a 9x13 pan reserving 1 1/2 c. of the mixture to crumble on top.

Melt:

1 (12 oz) pkg. chocolate chips

1 can sweetened condensed milk

2 T. butter

Melt on low heat in a small pot. Remove from heat and add:

2 tsp. vanilla

1 c. coconut (optional...my sister did not like the texture of it in there)

Spread chocolate mixture over the mixture pressed in the pan and then crumble the 1 1/2 of reserved cake mixture on top. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 325 degrees. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

BYU Mint Brownies

This recipe is from the BYU Almuni Association.

BYU Brownies1 cup butter or margarine
½ cup cocoa
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups cake flour
½ tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions: Melt butter.  Add cocoa and mix well.  Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
Pour batter into a greased 9X13 baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
Let cool then ice with mint icing.  Place into freezer for 5-10 minutes to stiffen the icing.
Remove from freezer and carefully smooth on a layer of chocolate icing.

Mint Icing
12 oz. powdered sugar
2 ½ oz. Crisco shortening
Dash of salt
2 oz. cold water
½ tsp. mint extract
1-2 drops green food coloring

Directions:  Combine all ingredients except shortening.  Mix until smooth.  Add shortening and mix 10 more minutes until smooth and fluffy.

Chocolate Icing
12 oz. powdered sugar
1.5 oz. hot water
1.5 oz butter or margarine
1.5 oz. melted chocolate chips
1 tablespoon corn syrup
¼ teaspoon vanilla

Directions: Mix the hot water, margarine, and powdered sugar until smooth and margarine is fully melted.  Add the fudge base, corn syrup, and vanilla.  Mix until smooth.

White Chocolate Popcorn

Mmmmmmm.......white chocolate and popcorn!  How could this not be yummy!

www.jamiecooksitup.blogspot.com
Time: 20 minutes + 30 minutes to set up
Yield: about 12 servings
Recipe from Jamie Cooks It Up!
 
2 bags microwave popcorn
2  12 oz packages white chocolate chips
1 T shortening
1 C  m and m's
1 C peanuts (I used honey roasted)
 
1. Pop you popcorn according to package directions.
2. Put your white chocolate in a microwave safe bowl. Heat it for 30 seconds and then stir. Repeat until it is all melted. Don't get it too hot! If you don't heat it slowly....it can burn. Oh, that would be one sad day. Burned white chocolate. What a shame.
3. Add the shortening to your melted chocolate. Stir until melted.
4. Place your pop corn in two large bowls. It's easier to get all of the goodies incorporated if you use two bowls instead of one.
5. Pour the white chocolate over the popcorn. Stir it all around to incorporate.
6. Add the m and m's and the peanuts and stir so they get all stuck in the white chocolate as well.
7. Lay the chocolate covered popcorn on two large cookie sheets that are lined with wax paper.
8. After the chocolate has set (about 30 minutes) break it into chucks and eat it up!
Or, bag some up and give it to a friend!

Homemade Thin Mints

I haven't seen a Girl Scouts around here at all!   I would love to be to make these.  I found the recipe here.

Homemade Thin Mints
Source: Adapted from Handle the Heat, Makes 30-40 cookies

Chocolate Wafers:

· 8 ounces butter, room temperature

· 1 cup powdered sugar

· 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

· 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

· 3/4 teaspoon salt

· 1 1/2 cups cake flour (all-purpose would work just fine)

·

Chocolate Peppermint Coating:

· 1 package mint dark chocolate candy melts

-or-

· 1 pound good quality semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

· peppermint extract to taste (about 1 teaspoon)

Cookie dough: In a mixer cream the butter until it is light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and continue to cream, scraping the sides of the bowl a couple times if necessary. Stir in the vanilla extract, salt, and cocoa powder. Mix until the cocoa powder is integrated and the batter is smooth and creamy, resembling a thick frosting. Add the flour and mix just until the batter is no longer dusty looking but still a bit crumbly. Turn the dough out onto a clean counter, gather it into a ball, and knead it together into a nice, smooth mass. Divide the dough in 2, flatten into disks, and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for 15 minutes.

Rollout and bake: Preheat oven to 350. Roll dough out really thin, about 1/8-inch. These are called thin mints after all. You can either roll it out between two sheets of plastic, or dust your counter and rolling pin with a bit of flour and do it that way. If the dough is too firm to roll you can microwave it for 5 seconds. Cut out cookies and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool completely on a wire rack.
 
Make the peppermint coating: Meanwhile, prepare your chocolate coating. Using a double boiler, slowly melt the chocolate, stirring occasionally until it is glossy and smooth. You can add 1 tablespoon of shortening if your chocolate is too thick. Alternatively, use a microwave in short 15-20 second bursts to melt the chocolate. Stir in the peppermint extract if you don’t have the mint candy melts.

Finishing the cookies: Using a fork gently drop the cookies one at a time into the chocolate coating. Flip to coat all sides. Lift the cookie out of the chocolate with the fork and bang the fork on the side of the pan to drain any extra chocolate off the cookie. You are after a thin, even coating of chocolate. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet, and repeat for the rest of the cookies. Place the cookies in the refrigerator or freezer to set.

Microwave Mug Brownies

Oh....this could be bad.....real bad.  But it would be nice to be able to just make one brownie and not a whole pan!  Got this recipe from thepioneerwoman.com actually I was on this site first and she directed me there.  I love finding new recipe sites!

4 Tbsp Flour
4 Tbsp Sugar
2 Tbsp Cocoa
2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil or melted butter
3 Tbsp Water

In a small bowl, whisk together dry ingredients until the cocoa clumps are gone; you can use your hands! Stir in the oil and water. Scrape into a mug with a spatula. Microwave for 1-2 minutes, but check on it once in a while. VOILA! A brownie in a mug. Feel free to double if you want.

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie

I saw this recipe on howdoesshe.com.

2 Cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup butter, melted (yes, I said MELTED)

1 Cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar (granulated)

1 Tbsp Vanilla

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1 1/2 Cups Milk chocolate chips

 

1. First, gather all of your bad boys together into one place.  This is partly for convenience, and partly to be sure you HAVE everything in the house that you need BEFORE you start making the dough!

 

2. Slap that butter into a microwave-safe bowl and start melting it. Okay, this went against everything I thought I knew about cookie-making. Melt the butter? Wha?!? Yes, melt that baby, melt it good!

 

3.  While that butter is melting (it’s okay, breathe, it will work out) you can start to combine your dry ingredients into another bowl. Tip: When measuring flour, take a large, heaping cup full, then  use a ruler or other straight edge to carefully skim off the top. Do NOT do the “tap tap tap down” thing as you’ll compact the flour instead of getting 1 cup of light fluffy goodness. Add to the flour the baking soda and salt. Whisk it together to combine.

 

4. Your butter should now be melted, so take it out of the microwave and be prepared to mix in the sugars. Tip: when measuring your brown sugar, you want to cram as much into that cup measurement as possible! Pretty much exactly the opposite as you did with the flour. Pack it in, baby, pack, pack, pack! Add the brown sugar and white sugar to the melted butter and beat until smooth.

5. Then add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Tip: When baking, it’s actually BETTER to use the artificial vanilla. When the real stuff get’s super heated (like, oh, 350 degrees or so) it actually loses some of it’s flavor! So feel free to be cheap here. It’s like my mantra, any way.

6. Oooh, baby, baby. Ahem.. sorry about that. I got lost in the cookie dough madness for a second. Okay, now we’re going to add the chocolate chips. PAY ATTENTION! You only want to add about HALF of the chocolate chips now. Don’t be tempted to add all of them… trust me. Put aside 1/3 – 1/2 of the chocolate chips in a small bowl and mix the rest in with the dough. You’ll thank me in a minute… Tip: Milk chocolate chips taste the BEST, but if you find the cookies a little on the sweet side, substitute half of the chips with semi-sweet. 

 

7. Don’t get all excited now that  your incredibly delicious dough is ready and waiting. Here is the rub: you need to stick that bowl of doughy goodness in your fridge for about an hour. If you bake it right now, you’ll end up with thin, frisbee-sized cookies that are not very appetizing (although, let’s be honest… anything involving chocolate is appetizing). So, stick that dough in the fridge, and walk away. Walk away before you are tempted above that which you can withstand. Oh, alright, have a little taste and THEN walk away. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll walk away now. Don’t worry, I’ll watch it for you. It’s not going anywhere. Come back in an hour.

8. Hey, you’re back! Wait… is that cookie dough on your cheek? Huh. Anyway, nab that bowl of chocolate chips that you put to the side, get out your baking sheets, and let’s start rolling! Tip: use a scoop to measure out balls which are uniform in size. This will prevent some from over-baking while others are undercooked. Okay, roll some dough to form a ball, then (ooh, you’ll love this) dip the top of the ball into the bowl of reserved chocolate chips. Then place a couple of inches apart on your baking sheet. This is what will give your cookies that “perfect” look. Stick them in a pre-heated 350 degree oven and bake for about 13 minutes. You want to remove them when the tops are just the tiniest bit shiny.

 

 *UPDATE (10/20/10) - I made this on Saturday and they were really yummy!  I did forget I had to put them in the refrigerator for an hour and I didn't have time, so made what I needed and they tasted very yummy!  Then I put the rest of the dough in the fridge and made them the next day and tasted very yummy too!  So I guess do what you need to do.  Do be careful not to overcook these cookies b/c they will get really really crunchy.  Don't worry if you do though, just pop them in the microwave for few seconds and it will make them less crunchy!  I definitely recommend these cookies!

BYU Famous Mint Brownies

Another recipe from Good Things Utah
by: Jenny Stanger- Brigham Young University Cougars Cookbook

• 1 (20 oz) box brownie mix
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 12 oz chocolate frosting
• mint frosting
  

Mint Frosting

• 5 tbsp butter, softened
• dash of salt
• 1 tbsp light corn syrup
• 2 1/3 cups powdered sugar
• ½ tsp mint extract
• blue food coloring
• 3 tbsp milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, prepare the brownie mix according to package directions, once the mix is combined thoroughly, add the walnuts and then spread batter in a 9 x 13 pan. Bake according to package directions.

To make the mint frosting combine the butter, salt, corn syrup and powdered sugar. beat until smooth and creamy. Add the mint extract and food coloring. mix in and then add the milk gradually until the frosting is a little more runny than cake frosting.

Spread the mint frosting over the cooled brownies and then place in the freezer for a short time to stiffen. Take brownies out of the freezer and carefully add a layer of chocolate frosting over top.